"I'll see you soon." I spoke into the phone and then hung up on my call with Ben Wheeler.
Ben Wheeler. Ben Wheeler. I smiled shyly and put my cell in my purse. I hadn't seen him since...right before I went to fat camp and lost all my weight. That was...four years ago. What could he possibly want now? What kind of person just...doesn't talk to you for four years and then suddenly calls you up out of the blue?
But as I walked into my bathroom to touch up my makeup, I realized that I didn't care. This was Ben, the Ben I'd been in love with ever since I could remember, calling me. Sure, that was back in high school, but...maybe he would finally see me differently now. Not as his brother's fat best friend. Well, old best friend anyway. I hadn't talked to Danny since we graduated high school. I kind of always thought Danny and I would be friends forever, we'd always been so close, but I hadn't heard from him since my graduation party. It wasn't a party exactly, just my family and Danny's, but those were the only people I'd really cared about anyway. That night had seemed so perfect...Danny and I had danced together and then later went up to my room and sat on my bed and talked about our futures; what kind of careers we wanted, the kinds of things we wanted to accomplish. I only stayed in town for two weeks after graduation, then I left for a summer program at the college I went to. During those two weeks, Danny was nowhere to be seen. I tried contacting him, so many times, I can't begin to count the number of texts, voicemails, and emails I'd sent to him over the years. But he just never responded. Needless to say, it broke my heart. I don't think I'd ever experienced anything quite as heartbreaking.
I tried to keep my mind off Danny. He wasn't the one I was going to see. It was Ben. I put on more mascara and made sure my lipstick wasn't smeared, and then I was out the door.
I had Ben's address written down on a piece of folded up notebook paper, stowed away in my purse, but I didn't need it. I already had it memorized. I remembered back in high school of all the things I had memorized about him. His favorite movie, his favorite song, though I doubted either of those were still the same.
I wondered about the kind of person he was now. Had he changed? Or was he still the same person he'd been in high school? I hoped he hadn't changed too much. From what I could remember, he was already perfect.
I pulled up outside the apartment complex. Well, this was it. Walking up to his door, I hesitated. Was I making the right decision? Was agreeing to meet Ben after all this time the right choice? What did he even want? I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and thought; yes.
But when I opened the door, I was not expecting what I saw. I felt like all the air was being knocked out of me, as I stared up at my old best friend. His blue eyes twinkled, shining brightly, as he stared back down at me. I couldn't breathe, and I felt paralyzed. What was he doing here?
"D-Danny?" I finally choked out.
I felt myself start to tear up, the corners of my eyes watering, but I willed myself not to cry. I couldn't, not in front of him. All the memories of our friendship came hurtling at me, years and years together, so many memories, good memories, all good memories. And then I thought of the deep ache I felt when he left me, the hollowness in my chest that had still never seemed to leave me even after all these years. It hurt, so much, in that moment, just to look at him.
"Riley..." Danny breathed out, his voice low and raw, almost cracking.
He stood holding the door open, wide enough that I could see him but not wide enough for me to come in, so I stayed in the hallway, though I wasn't sure I could've made it inside the apartment; my legs felt like jelly.
His face...he looked so unbelievably happy...until his expression changed, his facial features pinching up, and he suddenly looked either very, very sad, or very, very much in pain. I couldn't tell which, maybe it was a cross between both. Either way, I just kept staring at him, all my emotions in a jumble. Was I happy to see him? Was I angry? I just couldn't explain what I was feeling.
"Well," I crossed my arms, "you gonna let me in?"
"Oh yeah, yeah of course." He stepped back to let me walk inside.
And then I saw him. He was sitting on the couch, with, oddly enough, a baby in his lap. I walked away from Danny, away from all the confusion I was feeling, and walked over to sit beside Ben. I tried to ignore the baby as I looked at him, soaking him in. His perfectly styled hair, warm brown eyes that sparkled, and those lips, those lips that curled up into a smile as he looked up at me. This, this was the man I'd fallen so hard for so long ago.
"Say hello to Emma." He held up the baby's hand and moved it side to side in a wave.
I beamed down at the little girl. "Aw, hi sweetie!" I cooed.
"Is she...yours?" I asked.
"Yeah."
My heart started to sink. Of course he was with someone.
"I'm almost positive."
I frowned. "What do you mean 'almost positive'?" I questioned.
Ben's eyes shifted to Danny's, who had shut the door and walked closer to us.
"She was left on our doorstep...an old fling Ben had had with this girl...he never knew she was pregnant. We don't know for sure..." Danny shrugged.
I looked back down at the baby, and I knew, knew without a doubt she was his. I could see it in her eyes; they had the same sparkle.
"I don't understand..." I shook my head. "What does this have to do with me? Why...why after all these years?" I sighed. Seeing Ben wasn't as painful as seeing Danny, but it still hurt. Ben and I had lost contact before I'd gotten my bachelor's degree, before law school. I guess there wasn't really a reason for why we stopped talking, it just kind of happened. We used to text and call each other from time to time, but then they just started getting less frequent, until they stopped altogether.
"Riley, I'm so sorry we lost contact." He shifted Emma on his lap. "I didn't mean for it to happen."
"That still doesn't explain..."
He took a deep breath. "I know you're finishing up law school...our moms still talk to each other...and I, I don't know any lawyers or how to deal with any of this legal stuff, and I completely get if you don't want to help me out, but...I need you, Riley."
Looking at him, the baby softly gurgling, that stupid sparkle in his eyes that was still irresistible, I knew I would say yes; I would've said yes to anything he asked me in that moment. Because I knew I was still hopelessly, pathetically, head over heels for him.
A/N: Omg, hi! This is my first Danny x Riley fic, I hope you guys like it! Opinions would be greatly appreciated!